Faith Moves Mountains
by Arkosic
Summary: Naruto is on his longest mission yet. Strangely exhausted and unaware of the effects that are overtaking his body, he arrives at a hut in the middle of nowhere. Inside, is a man he's wanted to see for so long but in the worst possible condition. Sealing scrolls, tea houses and Kuruma banter.
1. Chapter 1

**The Worst Location for a Mission!**

'Here's your order!'

Naruto gratefully accepted the steaming cup of tea placed in front of him. He leaned forward as to inhale in the aroma deeply, getting a whiff of a mixture of herbs and a sweetener. He placed the ceramic cup in his hand, appreciative of the warmth seeping through his skin as a result of the contact. At times like this, he truly felt at ease. It was only a hot drink at a small teahouse in the middle of nowhere, but trivial things like these felt like luxuries during long, debilitating missions.

He had been travelling for almost two and a half weeks on end- his longest journey yet. After the whole account with the Three Tails, Kakashi had decided that the team should have a well-earned break, and most of the shinobi making up Konoha 11 were off duty for a while. But Naruto being Naruto, insisted that there was _something_ he could do, and him sitting around 'resting' was a waste of time, and so on and so forth. His sensei, who knew arguing with Naruto was like trying to reason with a _rock_ , gave in after two way-too-early morning visits to his house. Kakashi on the second instance then ordered the youth to go and speak to the Hokage, not telling him that he had previously spoken to her the day before- with the intent that she give him a job that taught him a lesson.

And Tsunade didn't fail to deliver. The boy had been assigned a roughly month-mission, which wasn't what he had had in mind. He wished for something dangerous, something flashy that he could boast to his comrades about upon his return- _especially that punk Kiba._ Instead, he was given a repetitive (and not flashy at all) task of collecting old Senju sealing scrolls that had been lying about here and there after the remnants of the last war. Naruto didn't refuse however-his pride wouldn't let him. That and the comments of the Ba-Chan saying how this was important to her, seeing it was part of clan heritage ect ect, and that the scrolls should be documented and stored away safely in case of future need.

Right now though, he needed to do a survey of his findings-something he hadn't done since entering Stone Country one and a half days ago from the Land of Earth (although at this moment in time he had already passed the border into Wind Country). He had travelled for eight hours from the boundary, only stopping for breath twice as he made his way in a southwest direction to his next marked location.

'Oba-san, is there a place where I can wash up?' Naruto asked as he placed down his cup while simultaneously picking up the bag at his feet.

'Yes, my dear. If you go through the door on your left, there should be a room with a basin and a toilet.' The woman behind the counter who spoke was old and feeble. Her pale, wrinkly skin looked as if it could fall off any minute, and her eyes -though extremely small- still had a hint of kindness in them. Surprisingly for her age, her grey hair was exceedingly long, and the bun that it was in seemed to outweigh the weight of the fragile head that it was atop. As she moved over to clear Naruto's table, she was interrupted by a younger woman.

'It's ok Ba-Chan, I'll do it,' the girl smiled as she caught the elder woman's hand, gently squeezing it as she did so. _Presumably her granddaughter_ , the shinobi thought as he headed to where the old lady told him to.

Once inside the room, the Uzumaki shut the door behind him. As well as the need to relive himself, another reason why he asked for the bathroom was to check the contents of his backpack. He sat himself down on a stool in the far right corner, and unzipped a black and grey bag that was placed on the floor. As he pulled out his hands from it, three scrolls were clumsily held in them. Naruto then placed two on the sill next to him, while opening up the remaining one so it spread out across his lap. He next placed a chakra-infused palm on the ink after biting his thumb, done in order to draw the blood required for the summoning. Usually, objects that were kept in scrolls did not need blood- or chakra for that matter- to be summoned. However, due to the classified nature of the items that had now appeared in front of him, Lady Tsunade had insisted that they be stored this way in case they fell into wrong hands.

 _78…._

78 scrolls he had collected in total so far. Ironically, the sealing scrolls that the shinobi had to find were to be locked away _themselves_ in _Makimono_ that specially could hold large quantities of small objects. The three that were given to him now could hold up to 37 items each. The Fifth Hokage had estimated the number of scrolls to be in the range of 96-110, as to give some leeway in case any were destroyed after the war or taken beforehand. Fortunately enough for Naruto though, the number was not larger as most of the desired articles around Fire country had already been collected by Leaf Shinobi. There was also the newly formed alliance between Konoha and Suna that made sure any scrolls that belonged to the Senju were rightly returned to the owner village.

 _Well, most of the scrolls…_

After Naruto did all that needed to be done, he splashed his face with water once more- thankful of the cool flowing liquid knowing that it would be some time before he'd be able to wash with it so freely again (seeing that he was in the middle of the desert). As he saw himself out he waved to the old woman and girl, thanking them for their hospitality and the amazing tea-and that he'd be sure to visit again if he was ever passing by. He took a deep breath as he passed through the door, and, was ready to set out again.

* * *

Naruto had been travelling for four hours non-stop when he was starting to feel sluggish. Apart from breakfast 12 hours ago and a biscuit or two that he had eaten at the tea house, he hadn't eaten solid food at all. As soon as the boulder came into his sight, he leaned against it to catch his way-too-ragged-for-his-liking breath, as well as reach for a food pill inside his bag (courtesy of Sakura). Even though the taste was horrifically bitter as it reached his mouth, Naruto was grateful for the burst of energy that he hoped would surge through him in a few moments. Since he had stopped, he took the opportunity to pull yet a _different_ scroll from out of his backpack. It was one of two given to him by TenTen. He recalled her advice before his journey.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

'Now listen here!' TenTen put her hands on her hips. 'There are fifteen containers in each scroll. I've packed in more than usual since Lady Tsuande said you're not a water user, so you can't conjure up chakra to turn it into the water element-if you were you could refill these up no big deal.

'These are sealed by basic fuinjutsu that don't require chakra, or blood to reach the required items okay? However, a compromise is that you need to use chakra to _seal_ the containers again, regardless of whether the water refilled is from your own chakra or just standard. To do that, just muster up energy on the seal and place the cup on it, and it should be transported. You need to do this every time you want to return one, though.'

Naruto had tried to keep up, but the crossed arms and confused expression on his face told the kunochi otherwise. She sighed and furrowed her brow as she got ready to speak again.

'Look, all I'm saying is that since the climate you'll be going in will vary, be careful to keep these filled up. Don't wear out your chakra so much by sprinting or engaging in battle or whatever that you find that you can't seal back these much-needed containers. I've packed plenty, but worst-case scenario is that you discard them because you can't seal them back, then at the same time you can't conjure up water element even if your chakra _is_ restored later on, since that isn't your nature.'

He had taken heed of her words. Before leaving the Land of Stone, he had made sure to fill up all empty containers with water via streams or other sources of flowing H2O en route to the border. Naruto had only lost three of the first scroll, having misplaced two and giving one to a poor traveller when journeying through a thick forest last week. The flask that he was so grateful to have right now _poofed!_ in front of him as he unravelled the creamy material on the dusty ground. He chugged the cool water thirstily, and as the cold liquid ran down his throat it refreshed his whole being immensely.

After he emptied the container, he placed his hand on the still-unfastened cloth and got ready to collect his chakra. The ink lit up briefly, and Naruto set the cup on the marking ready to return it to its dimension. Strangely enough however, the cup _didn't_ move. Not only that, but the markings on the material flashed for far too little time. The shinobi, who wondered what he had done wrong, furrowed his brow in puzzlement. Thinking that he didn't put enough energy in, Naruto tried again, and then a third time, and then a fourth until he exasperated in frustration. He brought the scroll to his face, peering at it as to inspect any damage that may have occurred. He wasn't surprised when he found that that wasn't the case, since he had not engaged in battle nor snagged his bag on any sharp rocks (there wasn't much in the middle of the desert).

The Uzumaki had stopped for ten minutes when he realised that he should be moving on. Although feeling much better after quenching his thirst, for some peculiar reason he hadn't got the surge of energy that he had anticipated after consuming the food pill. Shrugging it off as the effect of the glaring desert heat, he got up again and left the container near the large boulder that he had stopped at.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Two more hours had passed…What was wrong with him? When he was travelling as Team Kakashi a while ago on the Kazekage mission, he hadn't felt this tired- _they had even been going at nearly full speed then!_ Was it because the western side of the desert was that much harsher? Or that he just had _so much anger_ back then that that was the fuel which kept him going?

Well, whatever it was, it was exhausting him. Naruto took yet another break as he popped a food pill in his mouth once again, emptying out one more container while he was at it. This time however, he didn't bother trying to seal it back, so he just left it where it was-with the thought that some hopeful traveller _didn't_ think that it still had its contents and be disappointed upon finding it empty.

Naruto then proceeded to stand up and was stretching out his legs when a strange aura hit him. It was dark- familiar in a way, but still distant. To his dismay, he couldn't figure out the direction that it was coming from-or the type of signature it was for that matter. Was the chakra human or from an object? Naruto was frustrated that he couldn't tell.

A thought suddenly came into his head. _Wait, could this chakra_ _be what's interfering with me?_ he wondered. It was just conjecture, but that was the only explanation that he could think of in his current state. If he could find the source, then maybe, _just_ _maybe_ he could replenish his energy. But then again, _because_ it was just an assumption- would it really be okay to waste time like this? It would be getting dark soon, and desert climate at night would be harsh-if not harsher than in the daylight.

There was also the lack of direction to consider. Not that he would contemplate back-tracking to find the location of the energy, but he was pretty sure that the chakra source wasn't behind him, otherwise he would have picked it up sooner- and stronger. _Unless it's messing with me,_ Naruto thought. After some consideration, he decided that he would just carry on going in the direction that he intended to go in, and hopefully, if he happened to run into the focus point then- _problem solved_. He slung his possessions over his shoulder and began to run once more- if not a bit hazy.

* * *

'Ah-got it!' Naruto exclaimed as his hand felt a rusty latch that was embedded between some stone. He grunted, then pushed it down so that it made a 'clunk' sound, which gave way to a narrow opening that was barely visible due to the amount of dust on it. The young man whipped out a _kunai_ , digging it into the gap as to crumble away the stone. He placed his other hand on the top of the tool for support and leaned his weight forwards.

'Gah-ah!' Naruto heaved as bits of debris fell onto his body. He was doing a simple enough task, and yet it was consuming _every bit_ of energy that he had in him. When the hole was big enough to reach a hand through, he stopped to wipe his sweat-filled brow before extending his arm into the gap. Worn yet soft material wrapped around his fingers. He clutched at it, then pulled out the scrolls that he had been looking for into the open.

Three.

He reached into the crevice again-but this time in the far corner- and found _yet another_ scroll (although this one felt less tattered than the trio he had just pulled out). The Leaf shinobi plopped it onto the ground in a pile with the others and straightened his back, ready for the final round. With one last sweep, the fingers of his right hand travelled over the floor of the gap and although finding no more parchments, he could have _sworn_ he felt a few bugs scuttle over his hand.

 _Good thing Sakura isn't doing this,_ he chuckled to himself, _she hates bugs_. As he panted _-why was_ _this taking so much work?!-_ he thought it strange how the pink-haired kunochi could handle wounded corpses but not creepy-crawlies. The thought reminded him of her food pills-something he could really do with round about now- but they weren't being effective as of late, so he considered postponing their use. Instead, he shoved a hand in his bag to rummage around for the large sealing scroll. And as he had done so numerous times before on his journey, he unwrapped the cloth and proceeded to perform the sealing ritual. Naruto bit his thumb so a thick red trailed down it. He placed his hand flat on the black _kanji_ and tried to muster up his chakra.

Tried.

 _Not this again._

He sighed in exasperation. He had a few more unsuccessful attempts before he tossed all five parchments into backpack in annoyance. The struggle alone to collect and focus energy was exhausting him. He leaned against a broken pillar as he scanned his surroundings. Apart from the two walls that were latched, there were no others. Even this pillar (or half a pillar) was alone in its construction. There was an arch of stone across from where he was looking, and some bricks and debris scattered here and there but that was all there was to it. After surveying around him, his attention was brought to the sky as he felt the air moving besides him.

The wind was picking up.

And as well as the noticeably colder temperature, it was starting to get dark. Where he sat wasn't shelter enough. If he wanted somewhere to stay in his vulnerable state, he needed to keep moving.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 _How long has it been? Two hours? Two and a half- maybe three? Wait, what if not even one hour has gone by?_

 _I feel so sluggish. Chakra-I can't feel it. My chakra-wait… what's that aura? Why can I sense it but not my own? It's stronger…it's dark. It seems personal, but I can't place my finger on it… Why can't I recognise it?_

 _It's cold…_

 _...so cold…_

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

A Leaf shinobi was lost. The shinobi was clad in ridiculous orange, and thankfully possessed a not-so-ridiculous-backpack.

He was tired. The sun was tired a while ago too, so it had long set.

The desert was enjoying itself. Night was for a few hours at this time of year, so it relished in its blackout. It was a canvas for the stars that glimmered in numbers only a twilight sky would allow.

The air liked how free it could be, and how cold it could come. It decided to arrive at a chilling temperature. It tossed and twirled specks of dull sand, causing whirls of dust that trailed on for as long as the eye could see.

 _It's stronger…it's closer._

Vague outlines of something tall.

 _More pillars? No…they aren't that straight-oh,_ _ **they're trees.**_

A heavy draft carrying small granules caused the traveller to rub his eyes in irritation. He looked up and saw a structure.

 _More trees?_ He carried his feet a few metres forwards. _A, a-_

'A shack!' Naruto cried out with energy he didn't know he had. 'A frickin' shack!'

The Uzumaki stumbled hastily towards the construction. A newfound surge of power called hope coursed through the shinobi, revitalising his weak body. The blonde didn't know whether it was sweat or tears streaming down his face, and frankly, he _didn't care_. He had found a source of shelter, and-

 _This…it can't be. It's not-_

As the shack neared to a stone's throw away, the presence that had bothered Naruto for almost _half a day_ practically _dominated_ the space it was placed in. _It's inside,_ he concluded, _perhaps a scroll left open –possibly it's leaking chakra?_

But who was out here in the middle of nowhere, that left behind the document, and what were they doing?!

 _Besides…_ the youth didn't recall this being a marked location on his map. And as he neared, metres away from the door, he couldn't take the anxiety of not knowing what the chakra was any longer, so he found himself running towards the hut. Approaching the entrance, he placed his hands on a metal(?) sheet that was fixed in between the shack's wooden exterior walls. His heart beating crazily as it pulsed with the feeling of the ominous energy coming from inside, Naruto surprisingly pulled open the door easily enough.

He quickly shut the door behind him as to avoid bringing in the cold, leaning against it as he sighed and shut his eyes in relief. No sooner had he done so however, he realized that he still hadn't found the source of the aura. Naruto opened his eyes. He didn't need to do much searching.

No further than two metres away was a young man directly standing in front of him.

'Sasuke-'


	2. Chapter 2

**The Strange Aura's Owner**

No sooner than he had spoken Naruto felt an impact. A weight was pinning him against the door, and whilst regaining his focus he felt a cool metal making contact with the skin over his throat.

 _A kunai._

'Sa-'

'Don't move.'

A voice that was dangerously low spoke into his ears and Naruto's back stiffened even more against the door. As if the black-haired boy didn't trust him not to, he pushed his weapon closer to the blonde's throat, causing the Leaf nin to feel a warm trickle down his neck.

Naruto had been looking straight ahead up until now, and even though he thought he could see the glare of red in the dark, he couldn't _help but_ sneak a peek. He cautiously moved his eyes to the face in front of him, and gasped as soon as he saw a glimpse of crimson as his pupils met with the Uchiha's ones- if not for only a fleeting moment. Panicking, he shut his eyes- hoping that that wasn't enough time for the boy to get into his conscious. It was even more so worrying as with his chakra issue of late.

'Hn. Too late.' The boy sneered, and even though his voice lacked emotion it still held a mocking tone that Naruto could sense. 'Sharingan!'

Naruto dread what was coming, but never came. He nervously opened his eyes again, slowly peaking up at the other's face.

'Why can't I sense your chakra?' the voice hissed again, irked.

'Even before coming here, I didn't detect you at all,' -eyes dangerously narrowed- 'just what are you up to?' The Uchiha pressed his bodyweight against the Leaf shinobi more, making Naruto hitch his breath when the cut in his neck spilt additional blood.

For a while, the both of them stayed like that until Sasuke deemed the other boy not a threat. As he relaxed and moved away, Naruto did too- as the exhaustion that was interrupted by the excitement and fear of seeing Sasuke finally came back and hit him like a gush of wind. Moving to the wall on his left, the blonde's legs gave way and his back slid against the wall until he hit the ground. Under exhausted eyes, Naruto looked up. He could see Sasuke crouching near what looked like an old fireplace that he started to ignite, muttering to himself.

'Don't…'

Uchiha didn't even turn around.

'Don't…You can't go out…in this weather…Sasuke.' Naruto heaved and threw out every word with such difficulty as if he had to physically take the letters out from his mouth.

The missing-nin continued to ignore him and set on glaring at the hole in the wall. Naruto knew what he was thinking. He knew that he couldn't stand to be in the same place as the Uzumaki, as much as this fact hurt. But there was no way he could leave at this time of night, in these conditions. But then again, knowing the Uchiha and his determination…

But Naruto's determination.

'Ah-ugh!' The Uzumaki stumbled as he rose, falling flat on his ribs. Naruto winced in pain, clutching his sides as he shifted his position on the floor trying to get up. At the sound of the impact, the Uchiha cast a glace over his shoulder but that was it.

'Sa…suke,'-he stumbled some more- 'you can't leave...'

The leaf nin was making his way over, _painfully._ It was pathetic, and frankly, the raven-haired boy was getting tired of this. He turned his head back after getting up and finally opened his mouth.

'What makes you think I will?'

'Huh?'

'Didn't you say it yourself that the weather is bad outside?'

'Oh-I…Yeah.'

The blonde was taken by surprise at the other's words. He had actually listened to _him? No, it wasn't listening, he was making fun out of me. Still…_ Naruto thought, it was nice for him to pretend that he was. Now sitting up, he watched the other with careful eyes as Sasuke decided to sit down against the wall in the far corner. He wasn't looking back at him because there was no way he'd pay the Uzumaki any more attention than necessary. That boy didn't waste even a glance.

It killed Naruto to have another person in the room and they weren't talking _(except Sai, or Kiba for that matter),_ but then he thought that he might _be killed by the other person in the room_ ** _if_** **he started talking**. His mouth fluttered open and shut, indecisive on whether it wanted to say something. Usually, the two didn't need words to figure out what the other was saying. But today was different. And so the words came through.

'I, uh, didn't know that you were here.'

No answer as usual.

The Uzumaki regretted what he said instantly- as he knew that that was a clear indication that he couldn't sense the other boy's chakra either. It would have been wise to keep the knowledge from Sasuke that his body wasn't mustering energy like it should- in case they got into a fight. But then again, if Sasuke thought that Naruto _did_ know where he was, then he would think that he was trying to locate him and bring him home. So why didn't he leave? Was it truly because of the weather, or did Sasuke figure out that he wasn't the one with a problem?

As if they could read each other's thoughts in this moment, the raven-haired boy spoke.

'What's the matter with you?'

Eyes narrowed and honed in on the bulky rucksack displaced at the door.

The surprise on Naruto's face at his voice was an invitation to continue probing.

'You…what's going on with you?'

Sasuke spoke more than he had liked to. But it was bothering him, being confined in the middle of nowhere with a shinobi whose power status he didn't know.

'I…don't know.'

The Uchiha scoffed. _Of course he wouldn't tell him._

Instead, he got up and moved to where his cloak was in the opposite corner, and bundled it around his head, ready to lay down without ever really falling asleep.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It was probably two hours later when Sasuke realized that he might have dozed off (he had been travelling all day, after all). Alarmed, he quickly sat up and looked at the other shinobi in the room. Naruto had fallen asleep as well, his head hanging low and drool coming out of his mouth. The Uchiha couldn't help but also notice the trail of red stained down his throat that gleamed in the firelight.

 _Carless as always._

He thought back to the events earlier. It was irritating that so many questions ran through his mind but so few answers. _First of all, why didn't he detect the other shinobi- him of all people?_ Sasuke didn't like to admit how much of an affect his chakra had on him, but in reality now, the lack of it was troubling. Naruto had also said that he hadn't detected him either. Either that was a lie - _to try and get the Uchiha back to Konoha maybe?_ - _ **or**_ he was telling the truth. Sasuke ruled out the former as the leaf nin wouldn't come alone- that, _and_ he couldn't act well.

After organising his thoughts somewhat, he took another careful look at the Uzumaki. Nothing else spiked alarm or attention except for the way the blonde ninja was tightly gripping his rucksack in his sleep. Sasuke wondered what type of mission he was on.

'Nnghh..'

Naruto stirred in his sleep and Sasuke swore he saw his eyes flutter open for the slightest moment. The way the fire flickered and radiated his blonde hair burned a familiar image into the Uchiha's mind from two and a half years ago.

 _A demon fox._

Not wanting to fill his brain with unwanted thoughts any longer, the dark-haired boy unbundled a piece of bread that was parcelled in layers of rice paper. He took a bite then chewed at it slowly, eying the glass panel that was placed adjacent to the chimney.

The storm was still raging.

Sasuke thought it a wonder how the fire hadn't died out yet, but then concluded that there must have been some sort of special shaft that allowed air to go out, but not in. He wasn't particularly cold, but still wrapped his cloak around him anyways. Scanning the room he entered less than 24 hours ago, he wondered how long ago it was constructed, and initially for what purpose? There was no sign of a bed, or a basin for that matter, just a wooden box in another corner which he had found empty upon arrival.

The blonde next to the wall stirred, but the rogue ninja decided that he wasn't going to wake up for a while, so he settled himself down again.

* * *

The sky was beginning to lighten to a pale blue, and the winds calming down ever so slightly when the two boys were starting to wake up. The raven exhaled a small puff of air and sat up stiffly. It wasn't the worst place that he had slept in, but he would have liked it to have been more comfortable since he was waking up every few hours. He stood up and stretched. Almost immediately his glance fell in the direction of Naruto.

The Uzumaki was shifting around on the floor as he got up from sleep, his eyes opening slowly. A piece of thread dangled from his face, so he reached out a removed it with a hand. Groaning (probably because of the poor position he slept in), the ninja gingerly got up. It looked like for a moment he forgot where he was, since his head turned a few times until it landed in the direction of the raven in surprise. Exhaling as he remembered the events of last night, the blonde spoke.

'How long have you been here for?'

As soon as he had finished asking the question, Naruto thought that there was no point of ever asking the Uchiha anything at all. Hell, you would have gotten more of a response out of a stone wall. As he watched the Uchiha (who was doing his best to ignore him) reach into a pouch, it reminded the shinobi of how hungry he was.

Ironically, as soon as Sasuke heard the unfastening of Naruto's backpack, he whipped his head around. When nothing out of the ordinary seemed to be taken out of it, he resumed to looking down at his breakfast. It was tofu wrapped in seaweed. He had eaten this for a few days now, but couldn't complain as the moist texture kept him hydrated in the hot climate. After a few more bites he glanced at Naruto again, who didn't exactly look like he was enjoying his meal either. It seemed the Uzumaki was eating a rice ball filled with a grated vegetable of some sort. Unfortunately for Sasuke, the blonde caught him looking over and used this opportunity to speak.

'You want some?' Naruto offered gingerly, holding out the parcel in the raven's direction.

'Hn.' Said boy turned his face sharply in the other direction and resumed chewing his food. A bit too slowly.

'You don't look like you're enjoying that so much,' Naruto started again. 'Besides, didn't you always eat rice at the academy?'

Sasuke inwardly twitched at Naruto's casual mention of his time in Konoha, as well as the fact that he remembered such a trivial detail about himself. It was true- even as a teenager he still enjoyed eating _gohan_. He _was_ getting sick of the tofu now but didn't want to admit it first.

'Let's swap.'

A parcel was thrown in his direction and before he knew what he was doing, the Uchiha found himself catching it. There was still a lot of food left, and Sasuke was secretly grateful since he hadn't eaten rice in a while. Carefully packaging up his tofu, he also threw his meal in the other boy's direction. As the Uzumaki accepted it thankfully and started to eat it rather quickly, Sasuke started to wonder whether the swap was more for himself. He also recalled the fact that the blonde loved to eat ramen filled with tofu and seaweed. And in order to stop more unwanted memories making their way to the front of his brain, he too began to eat the food in front him.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Tsunade was going to kill him if he stayed with him any longer. He had just finished his breakfast when he reached into his bag for water to be greeted by the stray scrolls that didn't get sealed in earlier. That was right- he still hadn't figured what was wrong- and the confusion and excitement didn't add much to that either. A thought struck him _. He hadn't_ _ **even considered**_ _what Sasuke was doing here._

 _Orochimaru…_

The name left a nasty print in his memory. No doubt his friend here was following _his_ orders- he couldn't else think of what business the Uchiha could have all the way out here in Suna. He didn't _want_ him to go back to him.

Another thought came into his head, albeit, a bit crazy.

 _Is it possible to seal a human?_

Summoning animals were released from scrolls, so why couldn't shinobi-who were also filled with chakra? Naruto was uncomfortable with the idea that was forming into his mind. He still had one large sealing scroll out of the three that he had been given…Even if he _did_ miraculously manage to do it…would his friend forgive him? Sasuke probably didn't trust him too much right now so Naruto didn't want to give him more reason not to. Besides, he wanted to bring him back with his _own will_ , his _own voice_ \- not by force.

The water he drank tasted delicious on the Uzumaki's parched tongue. In the corner of his eye, he spotted Sasuke standing up and collecting his things much to his alarm. The winds seemed to be picking up again by the sounds of it, so he quickly guessed the other boy wanted to leave before it became severe. Without thinking and in haste, Naruto offered him a container.

'I, er, have some water if you're thirsty?' He rolled the bottle onto the floor with easy movement.

The raven picked it up.

'Thanks.'

His eyes widening as he didn't expect the comment of appreciation, the leaf nin rose to his feet. He watched he way the other boy gulped down the water- it seemed like he hadn't had some for a while, or he was rationing his shares carefully. _He probably doesn't have a TenTen in his life,_ Naruto thought humorously.

Sasuke finished drinking and attached the bottle to a pouch hanging off his cloak. He brushed his clothes, and in a swift movement headed towards the direction of the door when something a-hundred-and-sixty-centimetres-tall-or-so blocked his exit.

'You didn't stop me when I was packing, so what do you want now?' The rogue nin didn't know what he was expecting to happen, so anger nor impatience appeared on his face.

'Just listen!' The blonde boy pushed his arms behind his back so that the palms of his hands were flat against the door.

The other boy just simply stared.

Naruto's arms shortened as he pushed his body closer to the door. 'You're here now, right in front of me! I can't just let you go off like this.'

'I was the one who let you go last time.'

A surge of anger swam through the leaf nin. When he didn't move, Sasuke pushed on.

'You think you're "letting" me do anything? The difference between our power was well established last time. I don't care what you're doing here but stay out of my way.'

 _Stay out of his way? The difference in power? He hasn't acknowledged me one bit! All I've done for him…_

'Heh.'

Naruto's arms fell to his side and remained there until his hands resolved to curling themselves into fists. The other boy looked down amused, as if even the thought that the shinobi could punch him was utterly implausible.

'Don't tell me… that you enjoy living with that guy? That you… prefer taking orders from him, instead of from Ba-Chan, or Kakashi Sensei?!'

'If it means achieving my goal, yes.'

'Then…' Naruto gritted his teeth. 'If I had the power to get your revenge, would you follow me?'

Sasuke scoffed. 'You're talking about something that would never be possible.'

The blonde's head hurt. Spun. Split down the middle then joined itself up again. With a sudden jolt, all the energy that had been supressed within him burst out with crashing violence.

 _A flash of scarlet._

'Nggh-gah!' Naruto yelped out in pain, clutching his head so tightly that anyone would have thought he was trying to stop it from falling off. He stumbled forwards, backwards, sideways- the agony completely making him oblivious to all surrounding objects.

Another flash of red- but this time more vivid- spawned a familiar shade of crimson which coated the Uzumaki. Much to his horror, the boy also noticed the claw-like appearance of his growing nails. He could only correctly guess that the whisker marks on his cheeks were deeply engraved, and that his pupils had changed from cool ocean blue to fiery flame red.

 _No no no no no…._

Sasuke, who had been taken aback, readied his hand on the hilt of his sword. Whereas before he could not detect any chakra, now there was a surplus of it. How ironic it was that the same Naruto that he had just moments before boasted of beating was now right in front of him. At fifteen years of age to add.

'What is this-'

Before Sasuke could finish he felt a weight hurl him onto his back. He didn't even have time to reach for his sword- let alone make a handsign- when something painfully sharp started clawing at his face. It broke into his skin and the large discomfort forced the boy to let out a cry.

'Naruto stop- you're hurting me!'

'Stop? Because I'm hurting you? You never stopped!"

The raven was stunned into silence. He knew that the leaf nin was not only talking about physical pain. Rather, he was not talking about physical pain at all. The stings he was feeling now _\- was that years of anguish on the blonde's behalf?_ He recalled the first time he called him a scaredy cat. The first time he laughed at him being weak. The first time he told him he wanted to kill him. The first time he asked if he could read his mind that said he wanted him dead at his feet.

Sasuke was forced out of his thoughts as another burst of chakra blew over him like hot desert air. He tried to free himself of the heat, but it was no good as Kyuubi-Naruto was caging him from above. But there was something on the other side, Sasuke could feel, as that blast went over him. Something…ominous.

Something not quite from this world. He needed to investigate.

To his humiliation, Sasuke realised his sharingan was not activated. It had seemed that all the turmoil caught him off guard (you don't exactly automatically open an eye when your face is at risk of being clawed off). But he had to time it right- it seemed to the rogue ninja as if the change in chakra was when there was an outlet of energy. Did he have to provoke him more to get another burst? If so, triggering the Uzumkai could be fatal. But it was not as if he wasn't already in a predicament. So, Sasuke tried his luck.

'Heh, what's the… point of power when you… can't control it?' Sasuke managed while trying to shield himself from another handful of claws.

'Ggg-gahh!'

Bingo. _Sharingan!_

 ** _Well well well, look who it is here._**

* * *

yikes my update was almost a year later. lol life just happens I guess...and I also changed my name :D

Disclaimer: I am making no money off this work. nothing belongs to me.


End file.
